No One, But You
by writer007
Summary: The Weasley children could not remember a time when their parents had an argument that lasted overnight. When Arthur and Molly end up sleeping in separate rooms, can something be done before the argument gets out of hand?


**No One, But You**

"Ginny, will you please tell the ridiculous red-haired man, who blew up the living room this afternoon while tinkering with Muggle matches, sitting beside you, to pass the salt?" Molly asked, emphasizing every last word and glaring at her husband.

Arthur, who was quite as angry as his wife as she was with him, because she, in a rage, decided to throw away his sparkplug collection, answered, "Ginny, will you please hand this owl-shaped salt shaker that looks like Errol, which I _found and bought in a Muggle shop_, to the woman with the red hair, that incidentally," he paused for dramatic effect. "_adores _the salt shaker and proclaimed that it was, and _I quote_, 'cute'?"

Ginny wordlessly did as she was told and then proceeded to finish her dinner as fast as she could. Her brothers did the same, for they had quite solemn seen their parents so angry with each other. Usually, tension at the Weasley household rose over something the children did (much of it due to Fred and George's pranks). Why, just last week, Molly had discovered Fred and George to have flooded the entire attic and had yelled at the twins to get out of the house and degnome the garden for the rest of the day. Arthur then quietly let the twins back in after a few minutes, but since he didn't know Molly was standing right behind him watching the entire scene, they had an argument. Or rather, Molly yelled at Arthur for being soft with the boys and Arthur cowered.

Yet today was very different.

Mr. Weasley decided to spend a few hours in the afternoon experimenting with matches he had bought in a Muggle shop. Since it was his first time seeing matches, he got a little too excited and accidentally set fire to his pants when he got home. While frantically trying to put out the fire 'the Muggle way' by rolling all over the floor, he instead, knocked over the floo powder and set off a great explosion.

Mrs. Weasley, who was doing the laundry, heard the explosion, glanced over at the family clock and was startled to find that Arthur Weasley's hand had shifted to _Mortal Peril_.

She frantically dropped her freshly laundered sheets, scrambled around to find her wand and Apparated downstairs to find her husband covered with ash and the living room black as charcoal.

What happened next was another explosion. Mrs. Weasley's voice, louder and angrier than Fred and George could ever remember, rose to the ceiling, "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?"

"Er…Molly dear, I can fix it. Just let me get my wand here and the living room will be perfect in just a few----"

"I THOUGHT YOU WERE IN DANGER! YOU WERE JUST MESSING AROUND WITH ANOTHER MUGGLE PRODUCT WEREN'T YOU?"

"Now, now, Molly dear…" Arthur said nervously.

"DON'T YOU TRY TO GET YOURSELF OUT OF THIS ONE!" Mrs. Weasley started swelling like a bullfrog.

"Mollywobbles…" Arthur said gently, trying to calm his wife down. However, Mrs. Weasley had already turned and marched out to the shed. Mr. Weasley followed her, a bit bemused and slightly fearful.

Mrs. Weasley threw open the shed door, sparks flying off the tip of her wand and began to search through the various Muggle widgets Mr. Weasley were secretly experimenting magic with, all the while muttering, "_absolutely had it…example you are setting for our children…completely illegal…"_

Then she found the sparkplug collection Mr. Weasley had placed on the topmost shelf like a shrine. "Ah ha!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed. "_Accio!_"

The collection flew into her hands as Mr. Weasley gave a yelp and tried to make a grab for it.

Less than ten minutes later, the battle had begun. Mrs. Weasley had disposed of the collection her husband had lovingly put together for the past decade and Mr. Weasley, for the first time in quite awhile, turned his back on his wife with the air of an injured owl.

"You spend more time in that shed than you do with your family!" Mrs. Weasley had roared.

"Don't exaggerate, Molly!"

"You do too---" Mrs. Weasley's voice wavered. "You u-used to enjoy spending time with me w-whenever you could. Now it's all to y-your M-Muggle collection!"

Mrs. Weasley stormed off before her husband could respond, leaving Arthur standing in the yard guilt-ridden and at a loss for words.

Unfortunately for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, four of their children were home for the summer holidays and had heard every word. Ginny and Ron, who were playing chess looked up in the middle of their game. One of Ron's knights was shouting at him, "_Why'd you put me here for? Can't you see that bishop right smack in front of me?"_

"You don't think it'll last long, do you?" Ron asked hesitantly, ignoring the knight and moving his castle.

"Don't be ridiculous, Ron." Ginny said confidently, flipping back her hair. "Mum and Dad have rows all the time and they always make up."

"Yeah, but their rows usually last about a minute and then they're back to normal. This is the first time it's lasted for----" Ron looked at his watch. "Blimey, half an hour!"

But the argument lasted longer than that.

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When Mr. and Mrs. Weasley went to bed that night, neither of them were smiling.

"Goodnight, Molly." Mr. Weasley said formally, abandoning his pet name for his wife.

"Goonight, Arthur." Mrs. Weasley replied stiffly.

There was a long pause.

"Molly, can't we talk about this?" Arthur probed.

"What's there to talk about?"

"Come on…"

"Don't you start excusing yourself for what happened today!"

"You threw away my sparkplug collection!" Arthur said angrily.

"You are being absurd, Arthur. Why would any wizard miss a sparkplug collection?" Molly snapped.

"You wouldn't understand. You've never understood my hobby or even shown the slightest respect for it---"

"If you like Muggle things so much then why did you marry me? Why didn't you just marry a Muggle instead so you could live in a Muggle house with her and surround yourself with Muggle things?" Molly shot back.

"Well, maybe I should have!" Arthur said hotly.

He regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. Molly was, for once in her life, speechless.

Seconds later, Arthur found himself on the Weasley couch in the living, having been kicked out of the bedroom for the first time in years. The last time he could remember sleeping on the couch was the night their old Ford Anglia had been confiscated by the Ministry. The time before that was when Mrs. Weasley told him off for knocking her up for the sixth time.

With a small sigh, Mr. Weasley fluffed up his pillow the best he could and closed his eyes, pulling an old quilt over himself. He couldn't sleep. Upstairs, his wife was awake as well, staring into the darkness and feeling awkward in the bed that suddenly seemed far too big.

--------------------

The next morning, Mrs. Weasley awoke to find a delicate figurine set in the empty spot where her husband usually slept. She then remembered the night before and fresh guilt washed over her as she remembered how she had kicked Arthur out of bed.

They had fought over something very silly, she decided. Regretting everything that had happened, she resolved to cook up a large breakfast that included all of Arthur's favorite things and then apologizing for her behavior. Feeling slightly more cheerful, she picked up the figurine and was pleasantly surprised to find that it looked exactly like her and Arthur! The couple was a miniature version of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley on their wedding day. The bride had soft red curls and was holding a bouquet of roses, the red illuminating beautifully with the long, silk gown. The groom stood next to her, gazing adoringly at his wife.

But something was very suspicious about this figurine…why didn't it move? Why was it still?

Mrs. Weasley turned to look on the bottom of the figure and found that it had the name of a Muggle shop. Feeling a lump forming in her throat, she got out of bed and went downstairs.

Arthur was snoozing on the lumpy couch, dreaming of screwdrivers and fellytones. He was awaken by two familiar arms pulling him into a hug.

"Molly, dear?" Arthur muttered sleepily and was surprised to find her next to him, smiling lovingly into his eyes, all of yesterday's anger gone.

"It is so cute!" Molly said, holding up the miniature bridal couple.

"What's that?" Arthur asked, confused.

"What do you mean? Didn't you put it beside me?"

Arthur shook his head, rubbing his eyes while still half asleep.

"Oh. Hmm…I wonder if…" Molly's eyes immediately darted up to the rooms her children were sleeping. She smiled.

"Are you still angry with me, dear?" Arthur asked hesitantly.

"No, no of course not." Molly answered. She reached out and took his hand. "I'm sorry, Arthur."

"I'm sorry too," Arthur answered, looking into his wife's deep blue eyes. He rubbed her hand with his. "There is absolutely no woman in the world, Witch or Muggle, that I would want to spend the rest of my life with except for you."

"Oh, Arthur!" Molly said, her eyes overly bright. She sniffed and then kissed Arthur on the cheek. "And there is no man, Wizard or Muggle, that _I _would want to spend the rest of my life with, but you."

Molly then pulled out her wand. "_Accio sparkplugs!"_

The sparkplug collection flew out from a cupboard underneath the kitchen sink and zoomed into her hand.

"Molly!" Arthur exclaimed in surprise, taking his collection into his hands with a soft expression.

"I didn't really throw it away. I could never do that to something you love so much." Molly said quietly.

To her surprise, Arthur threw the collection over his shoulder.

"Mollywobbles," he replied. "The only thing I really love and could never bear to part from, is you. And right now, I want to give you my whole and undivided attention."

With that, the couple leaned forward and snogged with the same love and passion they had on their wedding day. The miniature figurine was still clutching in Mrs. Weasley's hand.

The miniature groom winked at the bride. They both looked up and saw the four Weasley children sitting at the top of the stairs, smiling contently at the sight of their parents.


End file.
